I wanted to see the documentary on Billy Preston's life (Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It) but it wasn't showing at the local art-house. So, I had put it on the list of films I'd look for when searching for documentaries to watch on the various streaming services. Yesterday, RQS and I went to see this film.
But first...
This weekend, I drove down to RQS's place en-femme. She's comfortable with me this way, and I didn't feel like switching my id from wallet to wallet to travel as Mario.
I got up moving slowly, and started my preparations to dress as Marian. By 2:00 pm, I was out the door, making my stops on the way to RQS's place. First, it was to the bank to get some cash. And then off to the gas station to buy some overpriced gas. (We have the Orange Monster and Israel to thank for this.) Once my local area tasks were done, I was on my way to Queens.
There were the usual slow spots on my way to RQS's place. So, I ended up driving through Forest Hills to bypass the traffic snarl in Kew Gardens, where the Grand Central Parkway, the Jackie Robinson (aka Interboro) Parkway, and Van Wyck Expressway all meet. Even though NYC/NYS did a lot of work to improve traffic flow at this confluence of roads, they were constrained by the local roads also having to flow through this area - there was no way to widen/lengthen the merge points to accommodate the traffic that needs to flow through the area. So, 90% of the time, I'm forced to drive through local streets because the Van Wyck Expressway is at a stand still for over a mile before the exit for the Jackie Robinson Parkway (JRP), and the entrance to the JRP being blocked as 5 lanes merge into 2.
What surprised me was that I made it to RQS's place in 2 hours (an acceptable time), and that we were able to relax for the evening before 6:00 pm.
- - - - - -
Saturday came, and we had a movie to go to. Around 3 pm, we both started getting ready to go out, and I spread my makeup all over "my" side of the dining table. By 4 :30, we were out the door and headed to the city. Reaching the Hudson Square area of Manhattan, we could only find one place to eat - Shake Shack. Although the burgers were good, we could have spent half as much at Mickey D's and enjoyed it just as much. Yet, I can't say that Shake Shack wasn't worth the money they charged for their burgers. They were good!
We were in walking distance of the theater, and were able to find a seat with ease. However, we had issues with sitting down, as we both wanted to take off our coats, and had a big bag of popcorn to manage. Once seated, we found that the movie focused on Billy's growth as a musician, followed by the pain the Billy had to deal with. His abuse (both what was done to him when young and the substances he "enjoyed" to survive) was the focus of the latter part of the film. It wasn't until the end of his life that he could even start to share his pain. What a sad life balanced with joyous music. Too bad for him that he couldn't have had a "normal" life. Too good for us that he didn't.
I suggested to RQS that we take the long way home to avoid stairs, and we did that. But it took us twice as long to get home from Manhattan. First, it was a local to South Ferry, where we changed to another subway line to take us to Union Square. From there, it was a trip back to 8th avenue to preserve our ability to sit down on the outbound ride, and then a transfer of trains in Ridgewood to that we could make it to a deli for a quart of OJ.
We were home around 10:15, and ready to sleep. And both of us needed it....
